Unrestrained Yuletide Mirth
by Skye Maxwell
Summary: Chris invites all his friends over for a Chris-mas Bash, but Josh and Sam are suspicious when Chris is sneaking around his own party with a remote control in hand. One-shot. Fluffy.


"Hey Sammy, have you seen our merry host anywhere?" Josh asked, walking towards Sam as she appeared in the living room. "There's been a suspiciously low amount of Chris at this so-called Chris-mas Bash."

"Yeah, but he didn't see me," Sam replied cryptically before scanning the contents of the red cup in Josh's hand.

"Apple cider."

"Spiked?" she asked absently as she became distracted with examining the pattern on Josh's sweater.

It looked like a typical ugly Christmas sweater at first glance, but in the center of the design was two pixelated characters from Street Fighter poised to fight each other. Between their outstretched hands was a star, and above the star was a little "KO."

"I would be disappointed if it wasn't," he said, taking a sip and watching Sam with amusement as she smirked at his sweater. He had known she would appreciate it. "So where did Chris Kringle go? He's been acting weird all night, and I'm a little offended that I'm not in on whatever he's up to."

"He was headed upstairs a minute ago. I don't know why, but he kept looking over his shoulder," Sam said, moving her gaze from Josh's sweater to his face.

"Upstairs?" Josh asked, raising his eyebrows comically as he looked toward the upstairs balcony that overlooked the living room. "Atta boy. Who was he with?"

Sam rolled her eyes. "No one. He was holding a remote control though… Wait a second, you didn't buy him another one of those RC cars, did you?"

"Don't look at me. I learned my lesson last time. Our dear Christopher cannot be trusted with children's toys."

"That's for sure," Sam said, taking Josh's cup from his hand and sipping from it as she casually looked around, surveying the party.

Mike and Emily were practically on top of each other, sitting in an armchair by the fire that was only meant for one.

Jess, Matt, Beth, and a couple of guys who must have been Chris' cousins were watching A Christmas Story and playing some sort of drinking game along with it.

"He's wearing the bunny suit! Everyone take a shot!"

A guy Sam vaguely recognized from school was trying to chat up Hannah over by the refreshment table, but she didn't look very interested, occasionally glancing uncomfortably toward Mike and Em.

"Huh?" Josh whispered when something nudged the back of his head, but Sam wasn't paying attention to him. Instead she was watching Hannah carefully, ready to jump in if she signaled that she needed an out.

Then it registered to Sam that she was hearing a faint humming noise close by, but Josh was one step ahead of her.

In one motion he easily snaked an arm around her waist and pulled her to his side, pressing an unexpectedly warm kiss to her temple.

"Josh?" Sam said softly without looking at him, gripping the red cup with both hands as he pulled away.

"Look up."

Sam looked up at the side of Josh's face, but he was looking above their heads. She followed his gaze, and above them hovered a plastic-looking green sphere with a red bow on top.

"What… is that?"

"Mistletoe Drone," Josh answered knowingly, shaking his head. "Only you, Cochise."

"Chris?" Sam asked, putting the pieces together. Then she looked sharply toward the balcony, and there was a squeaking noise, followed by hushed laughter as Ashley and Chris tried to hide themselves. "Ash?"

The drone began to fall toward them, and Josh swiped it out of the air with his free hand before it could hit Sam in the head.

"Saved your life."

"My hero," Sam said dryly as they both examined the festive contraption.

"Ashley must have been flying it," Josh said. "If it was Chris, I'd probably be missing an eye right now."

"I wonder how much he paid for this silly thing," Sam said, leaning forward to get a better look at it.

"That traitor. If anyone at this party should be antagonizing his friends with a flying mistletoe death machine, it should be me."

"Jealous?" Sam teased.

Josh hesitated, then shook his head no. "Me, jealous? When I have my arm around you? Everyone should be jealous of _me_."

Sam smiled tiredly at him. "Whatever you say, goofball."

"So, how long are you going to let me keep this here?" Josh asked, wiggling his arm.

Sam rested her head lightly on his shoulder.

"As long as I don't hate it," she sighed.

Josh felt a lump form in his throat, but before he could address the feelings that were causing it, the drone hummed back to life and flew out of his hand. He watched with concern as it flew haphazardly toward Mike and Emily, and then he looked back up to the balcony where Chris and Ash had reappeared.

Chris paused his horrible flying to point at Sam and give Josh a thumbs up, which seemed to amuse Ashley, who waved at Josh in a silent admission of guilt.

Josh gave Chris the 'we'll talk about this later' look, and Chris just shrugged it off with a grin, going back to his mischief.

Josh's focus returned to Sam, whose head was now resting more firmly on his shoulder as she contently observed the rest of her friends enjoying each other's company.

He wondered what it would be like to kiss Sam, to really kiss her. He talked a good game, but something about Sam made him nervous. Just the thought of kissing her made his throat dry, so he tried his hardest to think of something else.

Sam breathed deeply and took in the in the mixture of smells in the air: burning wood, cinnamon, alcohol, and pine needles. She then closed her eyes for a moment to take in the softness of Josh's sweater beneath her cheek, the firmness of his arm around her, and the warmth from the fire pressing against her.

Sam felt like she was lost in some sort of sensory haze, and she didn't mind it at all. The humming of the Mistletoe Drone, her friends' laughter, faint Christmas music in the next room, and the sound of Josh's breathing blended together, causing a warm feeling to spread through her chest and travel upward until it was coloring her cheeks.

She wished she had been ready when he had kissed her so she could have taken the time to stop and really take it in like she was doing now.

Then reality came creeping back in through her pleasant haze, and she opened her eyes to glance at Josh, slightly paranoid that he could somehow hear her thoughts.

Luckily he was occupied, chuckling at Mike and Emily as they realized there was mistletoe flying above them.

She lifted her head to observe him, smiling just to see him smiling.

When he turned and noticed her smile, his expression changed to one of confusion.

"What's going on in that pretty little head of yours?" he asked, but his tone didn't match the joking nature of his words.

"As soon as I figure it out, I promise I'll let you know," Sam replied, wondering when exactly she had started to love Josh.

As he looked into her eyes, the smile returned to his face, brilliant and affectionate.

"I'm looking forward to it."

* * *

A/N: There was rum in the cider. Rum makes Josh mellow. Mellow Josh makes Sam mellow.

The Mistletoe Drone is an actual product you can buy, and the manufacturer claims it will bring "unrestrained yuletide mirth" to your holiday gatherings.

Mini-epilogue: Josh joins Chris and Ash on the balcony. He tells them that their plan to cause an awkward situation between him and Sam failed, and he congratulates himself on his own smoothness. Chris and Ash admit defeat, just happy that Josh and Sam had a moment because they ship that. Sam joins them, and she and Josh ram the Mistletoe Drone into the head of the guy who is flirting with Hannah. Santa comes down the chimney at midnight, only to find a bunch of drunken teenagers passed out around the tree.

Okay, so maybe not that last part.

No one's dead, and everything is fluffy! Hooray! Merry Christmas! :D


End file.
